Friday, 6 September 2019

Remember the time Porsche built an engine for Harley-Davidson? Yes really!

Harley-Davidson and its V-twins have had a long and fruitful history together—a history that started as early as 1914 when the company introduced its first big-bore twin, the F-head. To this day, the V-twin remains a staple for the brand, whether it's the mid-range Revolution X or the big Milwaukee-Eight. Back in 2002, Harley tried a little something different with its V-twin and turned to Porsche to help make it happen.

Picture this: American muscle-man Harley-Davidson working hand in hand with the epitome of German refinement, Porsche. As… weird as the pairing may seem, that's exactly how things went down at the turn of the millennium, some 20 years ago. This wasn’t the first time the two companies collaborated, but the result of this early 2000s cross-Atlantic partnership was going to be one of the most historically impactful: hence was born the V-Twin Racing Street Custom or V-Rod.

When I was a sprog, I thought Harley-Davidsons were the ultimate bike. Times & tastes change... I had the opportunity to ride a few HDs back in 2016 at Guildford HD. I found the standard bikes such as the Fat Bob etc were a bit agricultural, shook like crazy, loosened yer fillings, etc... The V-Rod was something else. A Harley that I could live with. The Porsche engine was a gem - but not for ~£14k! HD enthusiasts hated the V-Rod - just not authentic Harley. Dunno what they're gonna make of the LiveWire then! Ho Hum, I'll stick with "modern" bikes ;0).